Archive

Crane Overturn

A large All Terrain crane overturned in the UK September, 11, at a new energy from waste installation in Kent.

We understand that the crane -a Liebherr from the Ainscough fleet had – developed an issue with the cable reel for the extension over the weekend and was left in place overnight with the boom raised and bi-fold extension in place. As the crane was set up alongside a walkway, the outriggers on one side were short rigged in the fully retracted position. Due to the size of the counterweight the correct boom and slew position were selected for maximum stability overnight.

We understand that the operator and mechanics arrived on site yesterday morning to sort out the problem. However… it seems that the operator raised the boom and then slewed the crane, taking the large counterweight out over the retracted outriggers causing it to tip over backwards – indicating that the overload system was probably not set up for the short rigged configuration.

The boom and extension came to rest on some newly installed tanks, thankfully no one was hurt in the incident and it looks as though damage might also be relatively modest. It could have been much nastier if anyone had been walking past the crane at the time.

This looks like a typical operator error, one that we have reported on numerous times over the years, and usually occurs during setting up or stowing the crane, when the operator forgets the short rigged outriggers behind him, raises the boom and then slews the counterweight out over the retracted outriggers.